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ZU SEHEN AM
Sa, 29.11. - 20.30 Uhr im Savoy
So, 30.11. - 13.00 Uhr im Savoy
Die meisten Menschen glauben, dass Jungs gewalttätiger
wären als Mädchen. Shannae, 13 Jahre, und
Megan, 14 Jahre, beweisen zum mindestens das Gegenteil.
Nach einer mehrfachen Vergewaltigung als zehnjährige
von fünf Jungen ist Shanae dem Alkohol und den
Drogen verfallen und hat im Rausch einen Freund erstochen.
Megan, Tochter einer drogenabhängigen Prostituierten,
hat mit einem Teppichschneider einen Jugendlichen angegriffen.
Oscar Preisträgerin Liz Garbus verfolgt im Laufe
von drei Jahren das Schicksal der beiden Mädchen
und ihrer verzweifelten Versuche aus dem Teufelskreis
Herkunft und Umgebung herauszukommen und ihrer Suche
nach einem besseren Leben. Produziert von Rory Kenndy
(„A Boy’s Life“).
>> English
Most people assume that boys will be more violent than
girls, especially in the adolescent years. The stereotype
is that boys work out their aggression with bloodthirsty
sparring while girls internalize their problems with
unhealthy cliques of peers who focus on shopping or
dieting. But having researched the growing percentages
of assaults on women by women, documentary filmmaker
Liz Garbus follows two young female delinquents as they
struggle through the structure they didn’t have
at home while trying re-enter society.
Shanae is 13 years old. At the age of 10, she was gang-raped
by five boys, reacted by delving into drugs and alcohol,
and ended up at the Waxter facility after stabbing a
friend to death. Megan is 14 and has been in and out
of foster homes for years since her addict mother prostituted
herself to earn money for drugs. Megan was sent to the
same detention center after assaulting a peer with a
box cutter.
Girlhood follows their progress over a three-year span
during which the supervisors try to track their progress
and whether or not a return to their families will foster
the necessary encouraging environment to succeed. While
Megan’s family has been begrudgingly forced to
deal with their irresponsible actions reflected in her
rebellions, Shanae’s parents congenially remind
her that she’s where she belongs for now to learn
a life’s lesson. When it’s a question of
tough love (for Shanae) versus forging an unknown path
of responsibility for the first time (Megan), it’s
hard to see where either of these young women will end
up. They are smart enough to spot errors in living,
but having not seen much in the way of role models,
who's to say they will find a more appropriate path?
It’s never clear what the processes are to therapeutically
bring these girls to the point that they can again be
a productive part of society, which is unfortunate considering
Girlhood is a study of two of the products of the system.
The staff at Waxter is always seen in a positive light,
compassionate and caring, able to communicate with the
same youthful lingo as their guests. By focusing from
a vantage in direct opposition to most films that follow
offenders through any type of criminal justice system,
though, the importance of what is being shown stays
with the young women and not on penalizing a program
set up to help.
Considering Shanae and Megan have survived through such
extreme conditions so far, sympathy for them is fairly
easily built and you do root for them every step of
the way. When Shanae begins to equate the murders she
sees in the paper with her past actions, the realization
is truly heartbreaking, even though no tears are shed.
As Megan bluntly discusses how she won’t end up
like her mother because she wants things out of life
while her parent doesn’t, the brunt of early maturity
is unbearably striking. That these two girls can be
so matter-of-fact about what they’ve been through,
instead of dramatizing because they are being constantly
watched, is a credit to Garbus’ ability to pick
a touching subject that will have you pondering for
some time.
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